- Trevor Connelly was helped off the ice by a trainer after a hit from behind in Saturday’s Rookie Faceoff game
- Utah’s Gabe Smith got a five-minute major and an ejection for the hit
- Read below for video of the hit and what Connelly said about his health a day earlier
Vegas Golden Knights top prospect Trevor Connelly did not finish Saturday’s rookie game.
The 2024 first-round pick took a hit from behind along the boards in the second period of the Golden Knights’ Rookie Faceoff opener against the Utah Mammoth in San Jose. Connelly stayed down for roughly 90 seconds before a trainer walked him off.
SinBin.vegas posted video of the hit:
It did not come out of nowhere. Connelly and Utah forward Gabe Smith got into a scuffle in front of the Mammoth net earlier in the period, and Smith caught up with him at the other end of the ice.
Officials handed Smith a five-minute major and threw him out of the game.
He made it back to the bench, but that was the end of his afternoon. Vegas has not put out an update.
A day earlier at City National Arena, Connelly sounded like a player who had finally left this part of his career behind. The question put to him was simple enough: what does it feel like to be healthy and ready to go?
“That’s a great feeling. I feel like this was a really big summer for me. Feel the strongest I’ve ever been, most stable I’ve ever been, and I think my game is in the best shape it’s ever been.”
Take a look at the full scrum:
Staying in Las Vegas all summer was the whole plan.
“I stayed here for most of the summer, did most of my workout training here and skating here. So I think it was just finding a different combination of balance and strength exercises that kind of makes my legs and me ready for the year.”
Health has been the running theme of his young career. Connelly missed training camp a year ago with a lower-body injury he picked up at the World Juniors summer showcase, then missed the World Juniors themselves in December with another one that cost him about six weeks.
Even with all of that, he piled up 49 points (14 goals, 35 assists) in 46 games for AHL Henderson and showed up this month in the conversation for an NHL job.
Smith, for his part, went 103rd overall to Utah in that same 2024 draft and signed his entry-level contract in May 2025.
Colorado is up next for the Golden Knights on Sunday at the Rookie Faceoff. Whether Connelly is in that lineup is the open question.
